Bilingual vs. Monolingual Optional Courses in Intensive

or Bilingual Schools

Prof. Sanda Gabor

Gh. Sincai High School

International Study ProgrammesLLP Comenius Training Course

Cheltenham July 2010

CLIL- Content and Language Integrated Learning for teachers who teach History, Geography or

other Arts Subjects

What is CLIL?

Content and Language Integrated Learning

• Teaching school subjects through English

Why CLIL?

• Traditional education-gap between language study and other subjects

• Helps students transfer knowledge from one language to another

• Develops CALP

CALP

• Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

Fully developed if students acquire in school the ability to understand and express academic information

BICS

• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

More focused upon during language classes

Different Approaches to CLIL

• Bilingual approach- teaching in English along with the mother tongue (dr. Diana Hicks)

• Immersion- monolingual-teaching in English only(Graham Workman)

Bilingual Approach

• The medium of teaching- English and mother tongue-Romanian/Hungarian

• It regards subject teachers and language teachersPROBLEMS• Subject teachers not well trained in English• Language teachers not well trained in the subject• Lack of text books-more work for the teacher

Possible Solutions

• Subject teachers are helped by language teachers in planning the lesson and the syllabus

• The lesson will be in English and in Romanian • The language teacher teaches a familiar

subject at a medium level of information stressing more on language

British History-CLIL Optional Course

• Aims at improving: Vocabulary Speaking Skills Reading Skills Listening Skills Writing Skills

• Taught by language teacher• Suitable for level B1, B2and A group age 13-19

– For level A Romanian language is used at a rate of 60% of the lesson

Steps to Take

1. Choose parts of the subject that are attractive and accessible to the group age

2. Use a diversity of teaching methods3. Use electronic as well as traditional

materials4. Set reachable targets

Vocabulary, Reading and Speaking Lessons

• Strategies

Guess the meaning of the wordLexical associations ChunksLexical chainsReport to class

Guess the meaning

• Teacher prepares a text to be given to students in which there are several (not more than 3-4) unknown words

• Students are asked to highlight the words they don’t know

• In pairs they are asked to guess what the meaning could be- they are asked to try to explain in English as well as in Romanian

• Plenary-class helped by the teacher find the correct meaning and for a word list

Lexical Associations

• For specific language students are asked to find similar situations or words in Romanian from Romanian History

Chunks

• Groups of 2 or more words used together to form meaning

• General chunks• Topical chunks• Students are asked to highlight them with different

colours• Students are asked to arrange them on two columns• Students practice both BICS and CALP

Lexical chains

• Students arrange the topical chunks in lexical chains to obtain a chain of main events

Reading Practice Strategies

• Jigsaw Reading

• Reading for specific information

• Gapped text

• Comparing texts and written sources

Developing Critical Thinking

• Prediction-story analysis

• Comparing assumptions with the real facts

Speaking Practice

• Dialogue

• Drama

• Comparing events or pictures

Writing

• Letter writing

• Essay writing

• Article writing

Use of the Internet

• Short documentaries on youtube create atmosphere and listening opportunities

• Sites selected for individual research

• Games

Immersion Classes

• Taught only in English• Develop CALP• Students do not transfer terms specific to

their culture properly• Cultural identity might have to lose

• The presentation was based on materials provided by dr. Diana Hicks and Graham Workman during the Cheltenham Course July 2010

• For specific materials and more information please access www.cetaclil.eu